House Democrats promote ‘People’s Bill of Rights’

House Democrats held a news conference Monday to promote a package of 50 bills they are sponsoring this year deemed to benefit Tennessee’s middle class, reports WPLN.

Their “People’s Bill of Rights” consists of five core principles that they say justify actions like raising the state’s minimum wage, lessening sentences for marijuana possession and opposing school vouchers.

“This is going back to the basics,” says House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley. “There’s not anything that you have not heard, and we have not been speaking about for years.”

The full slate of legislation runs to 14 pages. Many are measures that Democrats have proposed in the past but haven’t gained traction. But taken together, Democrats say their proposals will build a stronger economy, make neighborhoods safer, strengthen public education, spread high-quality healthcare and remove obstacles to voting.